Lost Stars: The Best Star Wars Book

I’ve loved reading the Star Wars books that have been put out to expand on the galaxy far far away that we love. But there are some books that stand out above the others and I’d even say that one of them is the best Star Wars book that anyone can read. This particular book is Lost Stars by Claudia Gray and you have to read this book!

The book came out before The Force Awakens, on September 5th, 2015. I personally didn’t read this book until this year after having gotten it for Christmas, but I’d been recommended this book by so many of my fellow Star Wars fans so I knew I couldn’t put off reading it anymore.

And let me tell you, this book is quite the ride! And while I wanted to know how it ended, I never wanted it to end.

I’m going to do my best to keep this post as spoiler-free as possible because there are some beautiful and shocking moments that are best experienced when you’re not expecting them to happen. I absolutely gasped out loud a number of times from many scenes in the book, which doesn’t happen as often as I’d like so it made the book more enjoyable for me to be surprised. Because of this, I want you to also have that experience.

See things from a “certain point of view”

Obi-Wan Kenobi told Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi that what he told him was true “from a certain point of view.” This line has been used by fans for years when talking about the different sides of the stories, as we only get one side and point of view in the films.

Lost Stars gives us another point of view, specifically one from the Empire side. Ciena and Thane are the main characters of Lost Stars. They are two kids from the planet Jelucan that decide to work hard so they can attend the Imperial Academy. Through them, we view events that happened in the Original Trilogy and the effect it had on those who were serving the Empire.

I absolutely loved seeing this side because in the films it’s drilled that the Empire is bad and the people who serve the Empire are bad. But with this book, we get a deeper look and while the Empire is still bad, it’s not as black and white as we think it is.

More Worlds

Not only do we get to see the worlds we have seen before, we get to know more worlds that we’ve never seen before like the home planet of Ciena and Thane, Jelucan. We also get to see the effect that the Empire has had on these worlds, both the negative and the positive.

Of note, since this book came out before The Force Awakens, it was one of the first places we got to “see” Jakku, the future home planet of our hero Rey! But that’s all I’ll say about that!

Coming of age in the Galaxy

I can only think of one other time in the Star Wars canonical universe that we get to see our characters grow up more than a few years, which is Anakin of course. But even then we miss a huge chunk of it from the time jump in Episode 1 and Episode 2.

So being able to see Ciena and Thane grow from their wide-eyed childhood to their more opinionated adulthoods. You really grow to love their characters and who they become and gain an understanding of the actions they take and the decisions they make.

Of course, it also means you get frustrated with them too! I can’t tell you how many times I was screaming inside my head about some stupid decisions they made but it also shows how into the book I got.

Love story

This book is at its core a love story. Not only will you read about Thane and Ciena falling in love, but you’ll fall in love with their story and you’ll root for them till the very end.

So, if you haven’t read this book, you need to go read it now! The point of views that we get in the book, the worlds that we visit, and falling in love with Ciena and Thane as they grow up and fall in love themselves is one of the best journeys I’ve had in the Star Wars galaxy. It is one of those books that you will want to read again and talk about with everyone you know. So once you’ve read it, make sure you come back and let me know in the comments what you think and if you agree that it’s the best Star Wars book!

Hi I'm Jessica! I'm a mother, wife, gamer, cosplayer, and all around fangirl. I love being a Geek Mom because I get to share many worlds with my daughter. Check out my about page to learn more about us!